Mariah’s Way: Finding a Forever Home can be purchased on Amazon or by emailing co-author Molly DePrekel at molly@cairnshealing.com. Image: Adobe Firefly
The book frames one dog’s story as a healing tool for foster and adoptive children.
By the time Molly DePrekel adopted Mariah—a 10-month-old black Labrador–Staffordshire terrier mix—the dog had already been returned by three previous owners and written off as “untrainable.” Nine years later, Mariah would defy that label—going on to be named runner-up for therapy dog of the year in 2007 by Pet Partners, a national organization that registers and supports volunteer therapy animals.
DePrekel, a Minnetonka local, is a psychologist at Cairns Healing and Amidst the Trees and partners with dogs and horses to counsel clients through animal-assisted therapy. After extensive training, Mariah played a large role in this work, assisting those in various stages of trauma recovery and mental health challenges. She worked in DePrekel’s private practice office, in schools and at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota, helping teach students communication skills. “She ran the gamut,” DePrekel says.
Mariah had an innate ability to help ground clients who were feeling dysregulated—those struggling to manage intense emotions and their reactions to them. DePrekel recalls instances when Mariah, simply by sitting beside clients whose nervous systems were on edge, helped bring them back into the present moment.
Co-author Molly DePrekel’s book mirrors the life of her late dog, Mariah.
Though Mariah passed away in 2013, her story lives on in a book DePrekel co-wrote with Mary Schoessler, a transition coach and energy healer from St. Louis Park. Published in 2025, Mariah’s Way: Finding a Forever Home is a story about a rescue dog turned therapy dog.
For DePrekel, Mariah’s journey—a dog who bounced from place to place before finding her forever home—resonates with the experiences of many foster and adoptive children who may be navigating trauma, instability and the search for a sense of belonging.
“It’s a metaphor for how to work deeper with kids who struggle with their own trauma,” DePrekel says. Questions in the back of the book help facilitate conversations with children, who are navigating foster care and adoption, about topics, such as the hardships they’ve overcome, the families they’ve stayed with and how they view themselves.
The story is aimed at children ages 10–18 and the adults who support them. DePrekel believes Mariah’s Way can serve as a tool for anyone involved in the lives of adopted or foster children, including educators, families, social workers and therapists.
DePrekel hopes the book will encourage adults to model healthy regulation for the children in their lives, even when there’s difficult emotions. Teaching mindfulness, presence and play were also central goals she had in publishing Mariah’s Way. “[Mariah] was a dog that I really worked with to bring her gift into the world,” DePrekel says. “This [book] was my way of saying thank you.”
Amidst the Trees
Facebook: Amidst the Trees
